Endless
by Sonixawesome
Summary: Tobin's got a bit of a problem. First, he lives a life of slavery. Now, he's going to high school. Hey, the girls are nice...
1. The tragic servant

Angel Beats

prologue

I feel my blood seeping out of me. I see nothing but the handle of the blade in my hand. The man in front of me shouts, and lifts a forging hammer. The head slams into my skull. I remember something about that area being the frontal lobe, where the short term-memory is held. Well, what use is a brain damaged laborer? From this, I determine that the man might actually want me dead. Not like anyone knows or cares. As I die, I grip the weapon that the man had forced me to make. The weapon now embedded in my 'master's' chest. As I die, I only wish I could have…

Chapter 1

Where Am I?  
I awake in an infirmary. I remember my name, age, and most of my life, but feel something's missing.. A young man who was probably three or four years older than me is sleeping sitting up in his chair.

I look about the room frantically, "Huh? Where… Where am I? Who are you?"

The guy jumps up, trying to fix his red hair. He laughed, "My name is Yuzuru Otonashi. I'm the student council president and the head of class SSS, or Shinda Sekai Sensen."

I knit my eyebrows, "Class SSS? So this is like… a school? I never enrolled in any schools."

Otonashi closes his eyes, as if in remembrance of a past event, "No one here enrolled."

My head starts to hurt from the cryptic talk, "What is that suppose to mean?"

He sighed, "It means that no one here truly intended to be here. It's a bit more complicated than that, but I don't think you want to get into the details."

I give him a sideways look, "Enlighten me."

Otonashi smiles at that, "Enlightenment is a hint."

I sigh, "Great. I'm at a Buddhist high school."

Otonashi laughs, "That's one I haven't heard yet. No, you're not at a Buddhist high school. This is the afterlife. Do you remember how you died?"

I lay my head back onto the small infirmary cushions, closing my eyes, "Awesome. And I imagine that you are god?"

Otonashi somberly shakes his head, "No, I'm just Student Council President."

To humor him, I let out a relieved breath, "Well at least now I don't have to add a student council president with a messiah complex to the list of crazy people in my life. Afterlife. Whatever."

Otonashi laughs again, "For a newly dead teenager, you sure have some good material."

Now it's my turn to laugh, "Thanks, I'll be here all eternity."

That reminds Otonashi of something, "Not exactly. You see, someone who came here never got the chance to live a fulfilled life. The courses that you take here will be tailored to help you live the life that was taken from you. Almost no one here ever achieved their highest goals. When you finally do that, you will pass on. What happens after that, we don't know for sure. We assume that we'll get reborn, but we don't know."

I tilt my head, "Why do you say almost? Who ended up here even after they achieved their goals?"

Otonashi flashes me a picturesque smile, "You're looking at him."

I fake a gulp, and do the best bow you can do in a hospital bed,"Wow. I feel so underdressed."

Otonashi laughs again. "Did you die falling on your head from the stage at a stand up gig?"

My face clouds over,losing its joking smile, "Not a chance."

Otonashi jumps, "What's with this change?"

I look at him. "I don't know how I died, but I know what I did in life. You see, when I was around twelve, my parents walked into my room at night. I was a very light sleeper, and I immediately woke up. I smiled at them, and said 'what's going on?' my father pushed my arms into the bed, and my mother put a white rag over my head. I tried to breathe, and I fell asleep. Every couple of hours, I'd wake up, and my mother would put the rag on my face again."

Otonashi nodded, the smile on his face long gone.

I continued, "After what I gauge to be around ten hours, I woke up in a strange room with a strange man. He told me that I belonged to him now. I told him something that my grade school teacher had taught me. 'But slavery is against the law.' He simply laughed, stoking the hearth fire. 'You look out there and tell me who you think it is that knows?' I looked through the window and saw a sweeping mountain range. Far out here, not a single person would be able to do anything for me. I looked down the path to see my parents laughing, arm in arm. My mother counted money, and my father looked at car magazines. They got in the vehicle, and drove away. The man looked at me, smiling. 'Are you content now?' I nodded, and walked to the hearth."

I looked down at my hands. They still retained the scars that I'd been afflicted with in life, "For a year, he had me mine for metal, while he pored over old Middle Eastern scrolls. He told me that they were the lost instructions for forging a Damascus sword. The sword, he believed, would go for millions to wealthy sword enthusiasts. He, however, was not one to work at a hot forge for hours on end. The rest of my life, I forged the blade that he wanted so badly. However, he was horrible with surveillance. He couldn't think of his little slave trying to think for himself. One day, I stole from him a separate amount of instructions. I finished the Damascus sword with enough time to put my plan into action. One day, he finally walked into the room where I worked…"

I paused, lost for words. I couldn't remember anything beyond that point, no matter how hard I tried to.

Otonashi looks at me. "What's up?"

I shake my head, trying to think. "I… I can't remember anything beyond that point. I know everything else, all of the sweat, the blood, the scents of everything, but after that I can only draw up blanks. Is that strange?"

Otonashi shakes his head. "If you were hit on the head before you died, you usually don't remember anything. You remember more than I did."

I look at him again. "You didn't remember your life?"

He nods. "I died not long after a train wrecked inside a tunnel. I was able to gain my memories back through my friend Ayato Naoi's hypnotic abilities."

I nod to that. "And where is this... This Naoi now?"

Otonashi looks to the sky, and I get the idea. Well, I somewhat get the idea. "So… he died?"

Otonashi looks back down at me. "No, no one here dies. This is the afterlife, we're already dead. But when someone is able to fulfill whatever they didn't finish in life,then we are able to disappear, and, presumably, be reborn on Earth. That is why we have classes; they are suited to how we are going to fulfill our unfinished lives."

"But… But I've never taken a grade school class before! How can I be expected to complete a high school class?" I sputter.

Otonashi laughs once more. "I'm certain that we'll find somewhere that you won't look like a fool. You look strong, maybe you could fill up your schedule with phys. ed. classes. That might work. Until we determine your schedule, let me show you where the Shinda Sekai Sensen spends their off time."

**Finally, it has been fully redone! I got rid of the second boy because he was my brother's character and I didn't know how I would use the strange world he created in junction with my own, so I'm going to redo the whole thing. No offense to him, but the worlds are just incompatible.  
**


	2. The Principle's office- Or not!

Chapter 2

The Principal's office

I stand in front of the place that Otonashi brings me to, mouth wide open. "THIS IS THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE! I NEVER WENT TO SCHOOL, BUT I'M PRETTY SURE THAT THIS IS OFF-LIMITS TO STUDENTS!" Otonashi lifts his hand. "The principal is just an NPC. No one is going to care if we crash in his office." I sigh. What a weird place the afterlife is turning out to be. "Whatever, let's just go in…" I open the door. Otonashi yells "No! Don't do that!" I turn to him, and suddenly I'm out of the window. He's flying next to me. "I told you not to do that! It's booby trapped! Left over from the old days to keep certain people out! Mind your head!" I look down, and my face impacts the ground.

I wake up in the infirmary again. "Oh Jeez. That hurt like a b#$^!" Otonashi opens the curtain, and he seems perfectly fine. "Always does. You can't die here, but you can feel pain. I've been hammered, axed, stabbed… good times…" I look at him like he's an alien. "I'd hate to see the bad times." He smiles, and looks out the window. "Those would be the explosions, the lasers, the giant boulder, the pits, and nearly getting smashed by a crazy girl. If you were to ask any of the old battlefront members, all now passed on, but they would tell you that I died very few times. Some of them were shot, mutilated, rocketed into the ceiling, yeah. They had some good ones. Especially Shiina. On the few times that she died, they were the strangest. Yuri had some stories, but Hinata died the most. Six times a day, once. Matsushita could tell you how lasers feel. TK had to hold up a ceiling once. Naoi only died once as far as I know, but that sword is sharp… he did almost become an NPC… oh well. I'm just blabbering now. Go ahead, get out of the bed, the pain has passed, and now you need to get to class. I've set up six classes for you. Woodshop for first period, biology for second period, foreign languages for third period, first lunch with the rest of SSS, drafting and design fourth period, Japanese fifth period, and P.E for sixth. Your dorm is room C23 on the third floor, building 21. It's nearing the start of first period now, so you should head to room A45, woodshop. The teacher is cool, you should like that class." I look outside. "It was noon when first I woke up here. Classes start at _noon?"_ Otonashi laughs. "Nope. You've been sleeping for a few days. If you hadn't woken up now, you'd have failed due to absences."

"When do classes start?" Otonashi looks up, and a bell rings. "Now." I run through the halls. A20, A30, A40, A45. I enter the room, and bow to the teacher. "I'm sorry for being late, sensei. There was the hammer, and then I woke up and I had to rush to class, and…" The teacher lifts his hand. "It's alright. Just make sure you don't get here late again." The teacher writes on the board "Drill safety." He looks back at me. "Sit next to Suryu." I turn, and a girl sighs. "Oh well. Just don't get in my way, kid."


	3. Ria Suryu

Chapter 3

Ria Suryu

I sat down. As the teacher went on speaking, 'Suryu' tapped my shoulder. "Lucky! He's been talking safety all week, and you waltz in and get a 'don't be late again' routine! If I could have had a coma, I would have. And what's all this about a hammer?"

The teacher turned, "Ria Suryu, if you talk in class again I will have you teach the lesson. Now, who knows what the end of the drill is called."

I raised my hand on instinct, "New kid! What is it?"

"The bit, sir. And my name is Ishyama. Tobin Ishyama."

The teacher smiled, "Have you taken any classes like this before?"

I shook my head, "Not once. But I have used a drill."

The teacher nodded. "Well I am Mr. Nakata. Welcome to Woodshop class, Tobin."

Ria looked at me with wonder, "How did you know that? What do you mean that you used a drill before?"

I smiled, "I had to make an anvil once. No use in a shaky anvil, so I used a drill to bolt it to the ground. Just in case."

Ria squinted, "Why did you need an anvil?"

I tried to tell her, but the teacher silenced us, "Save the dates for after school, will you?"

Both of us blushed. I whispered "long story." And we got to work on the fundamentals of the hand saw.

At lunch, I spotted Ria at the food line. She turned, and saw that the dean wasn't looking. She gestured to me.

I stood next to her. "What?"

She smiled, "You were planning on eating, weren't you?"

I looked at her, "Why? We are dead, aren't we?"

She looked around, and whispered, "I think that's a sham. That Otonashi guy doesn't seem trustworthy to me. I think that we might have a chance to break out of here. Escape and go home, you know? The last thing I remember is falling. Anything could happen after that, right? I mean, for all we know, we could be in some secluded part of Siberia or something!"

I looked outside, "Doesn't look like Siberia to me."

She grabbed her face, "Ever heard of a soundstage?"

I tilt my head, "What is that?"

"It's used for movies. They set up a building, give it an environment, and produce the movie in peace."

"Okay. So what does that mean?"

She made a disappointed sound, "It means we've been kidnapped. Okay? We're on Otonashi's soundstage and we have to escape."

I looked up thoughtfully. I don't have any memory of my death anyway.

This girl might just be right. "So he kidnapped us for a movie?"

She shook her head, "No! He kidnapped us for a ransom! He wants our parents to pay him for our return! If we escape, he'll not have anything!"

"So what are the teachers and other students?"

She sighed again, "You're not helping. Do you know anything about movies?"

I shook my head.

"Hopeless. Listen, in the movies, there are main characters. Protagonists and antagonists. We are the Protagonists. We are the heroes of the story, and Otonashi is the antagonist, the villain. Then, if the story takes place in a real world setting, there are extras. This makes the world more realistic. The Extras, or as Otonashi calls them, the NPCs, get no real screen time. They just fill in for reality. Got it?"

I nodded. Crazy girl. 'Least she wasn't trying to smash me. "Oh well. So what was it about needing to eat?" She handed him a slip of paper that said 'Mapo Tofu. 300 yen.'

"What is this?"

"A food ticket. You get them from that vending machine over there, and you use them to buy food. Give this to the lunch woman and she'll give you your food." I took it. We just got the food from the lady and sat down to eat. I took a bite of the food.

It tasted great, and I once again got an 'ET' look from Ria. "What? Am I supposed to use the chopsticks differently?"

She shook her head, "Isn't it spicy?"

I shake my head, "Is it supposed to be? Did I get a bad batch?" She took a piece, and once it touched her tongue, her eyes watered.

Her face went red, as red as the color of her hair. "HOTHOTHOTHOT!" She grabbed her milk, dousing her tongue. "Ah… but the aftertaste is always good."

I smiled. "It really doesn't seem all that hot to me. Why is that?"

She shrugged, and got back to her beef udon. "I guess you're somehow use to spicy food. I don't know how, but if you ask anyone, they'll tell you what I just demonstrated. That stuff is hot!" I took another bite and she smiled. "That's good. You're tough; it means you'll be useful if things get hairy." I didn't want to be some kind of human shield, but I liked this girl. She was cool. I continued eating, and the talk changed to normal, boy to girl teenager talk. Stuff like class. We both disdained Biology. We were pretty good at Foreign languages, and it turned out that our entire schedule is the same. We managed to stop talking long enough to finish our food just as the bell rang. The day went on just fine, and we said goodbye as we went into our separate rooms.

In the middle of the night, I heard something. I turned my light on, and saw Ria at the window.

I stumbled into my pajamas and let her in. "_What are you doing?_" I hissed.

"I'm not doing anything. I'm just holding a strategy meeting."

I flailed my arms about. "How come I wasn't told about it? I at least would have tried to have some pants on!"

She walked to the door and locked it. "I told you in code."

I folded my arms. "And how was I supposed to know this code?" She leaned on the wall.

"So we need a strategy to get out of here."

"You can't just change the subject like that!"

"Sure I can. Just shut up and listen. I've learned of Otonashi's secret. Back in the time that he's always speaking about, he supposedly had a stockpile of weapons. They'll be useful. It also had a factory where they made such weapons. If you're so good at woodshop, which means that you had something to do with manufacturing before you were brought here. You could fit us with weapons, and we could bust out of this phony-baloney 'heaven' in a second. Then, we could find out how to reach our parents."

I raised my hand, and she pointed at me like I was a grade-schooler. "Yes, Private Ishyama?"

"Two issues with that plan. One, I died once before I met you. How do you explain that?"

She peeled herself from the wall. "That's easy. I think that Otonashi simply found this soundstage. That means that it had all of the necessary equipment for a movie. For example, something to break a fall. He mentions this kid Naoi with hypnotic powers. What if he's still here, making us think we died, just so that we go along with the idea and stay in this place where he wants us."

She walked right up to me, and looked me in the face. "What was your second question?"

For some reason, all my brain could think about at the time was her perfume, but then I got my brain back in order. "If this is Siberia, then how come all of the 'actors' are speaking Japanese? You really expect Otonashi to find a ton of Japanese accomplices in _Siberia?_ And who sets a movie in Siberia? Soundstage or no, it sounds far-fetched."

She smiled, "Oh ye of little faith. I can answer those. One, he himself speaks Japanese, and might have brought them here. Two, it all adds to the seclusion factor that the soundstage represents."

I sighed, "So what made you decide to turn everything into movie terms?"

She sat on the bed, somewhat lacking her former vitality, "My father is a producer. We went all around the world together, you know? Searching for talent, inspiration, all of that. But in the end, I was never able to make friends. My grades dropped. My father began to see me as baggage, even buying me coach tickets while he got first class. I got more and more secluded, and father got angrier and angrier. One day, he took me on a hike. I was happy, I thought that he was going to be my friend again. But we reached a crevasse in the mountain. He looked at me, and told me something about his newest movie idea. I didn't hear much of it, I was taken away by this time with my father and the view over the mountain. As I spaced out, I suddenly realized that the ground at my feet was gone."

"I woke up the next day in the infirmary. Otonashi gave me the same spiel he gave you, and sent me to class. But… I didn't believe him. I must have tripped, my father must be searching for me… all of it was what I thought. I just want to go home. That's all that I want…"

I stroked her hair as she sobbed, uncertain what to make of this girl. She was a leader, of that I was sure. But she held so much uncertainty inside.

No matter how possible it was that her father had pushed her into the hole and that she was indeed dead, she just wanted to see her father again. "So… how about you change the subject. What about your mother?"

She wiped her tears off of her face, and smiled at me forlornly. "Died of complications with labor. I couldn't even make friends with my mom… Ha. How sad is that."

I smiled at her. "That's nothing. At least your father loved you at one point in his life. And I'm sure that your mother watched you in spirit. I was sold into slavery by my parents themselves. Right now, they probably have other children, a penthouse, three cars… all of that."

Ria shook her head. "No one is that horrible!" I looked at her, and she stopped crying. "Wow. I'm so sorry… rambling and complaining like a baby while you were sold like a donkey. I think that I owe you an apology."

I helped her sit up, and opened the window. "You should probably go back to your room. We don't want to be caught or anything. There might be a punishment for a boy and a girl in the same dorm."

She nodded, and then thought of something. "Tomorrow, after school, you should come to my room. There's some cool stuff in there left from the last person to stay. You should see it. We'll go to the weapons place afterwards."

She stood on the sill, and graciously leapt up. She lifted herself onto the next sill, "Bye, Ria!" I whisper.

She put her head down in front of window. "Bye Ishyama." She lifted her head, and disappeared from sight.

I heard a window slide open, and then closed, and I shut my own window. _Her Bedroom is right above mine? _Interesting. I closed my eyes, and dreamt until morning.


End file.
